Library cubicle or carrell



March 23, 1954 w. N. ALDERMAN LIBRARY CUBICLE OR CARRELL Filed Aug. l, 1950 Patented Mar. 23, 1954 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEFIcE 2,673,132 LIBRARY CUBICLE R CARRELL William N. Alderman, Chicago, Ill. Application August 1, 1950, Serial No. 177,058

This invention relates generally to a soundproof study booth, cubicle, or carrell and more particularly to such a carrell which is self-contained and readily portable.

It is common practice in schools and in libraries for large numbers of persons to study concurrently in a large room. No matter how careful each person is, there is bound to be considerable noise caused by movement of furniture and of books in addition to `occasional conversation. Under some conditions, the ever present noise may be tolerated but it cannot be when intense concentration is required. Accordingly, there have sometimes been provided carrells or cubicles for individual study. These carrells or cubicles have generally ybeen built in against the walls of a room as an integral part of the building. Such carrells cannot be moved and this is undesirable as the study load may shift occasionally from one library or study room to another, thus overcrowding certain study rooms while leaving carrells in other rooms vacant. To insure a suiiicient number of carrells in all places at all times, it is necessary to construct a number for each study room or library equal to the peak load to be expected therein. This is clearly` uneconomical as many carrells will be unoccupied during off-peak periods.

It is an object of this invention to obviate the foregoing diiiiculties by able soundproof study cubicle or carrell.

Prior built-in study cubicles or carrells generally have extended to the ceiling of the room or have been provided with auxiliary ceilings of their own. This causes poor ventilation and induces claustrophobia in some persons. Generally, noise in a study room or library comes from the side with little or none from above, so that from the point of soundproong, a ceiling and high walls on a study cubicle or carrell are unnecessary.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a ceilingless portable soundproof study cubicle or Carrell having Walls of substantially chest to shoulder height. f

Built-in carrells must be vprovided with desks or writing surfaces of some sort and with study lamps if adequate lighting is to be insured. Often it is diiiicult to move study desks in through the doors of such carrells and in any event, the pro-. vision of separate desks is venient. Separate study lamps are undesirable as they are inconvenient to locate and are readily broken.

Yet another object of this invention is the provision of a portable study cubicle or Carrell the provision of a portexpensive and incon.

1 Claim. (Cl. 311-2) as set forth in the foregoing objects in which a desk and study lamp are provided integral with the carrell.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pair of cubicles embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a top view showing a plurality of cubicles in a different arrangement;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the cubicles as taken substantiallyl ralong the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary' perspective view of a Wall section of a cubicle.

Referring more specifically to the figures, each Carrell 6 comprises a front wall 8 and a pair of partial side walls IIJ and I2 connected therewith the cubicle and penetrating the apertures I 8.'

Hinge connections 22 are provided at the top and bottom of the free edges of the sidewalls I0 and I2 and lie between the surfaces of these An extending sidewall 24 is connected to either of the sidewalls I0 and I2 by hinge connections 26 cooperating with the hinge connections 22.

A desk 28 comprises a flat surface which may be of wood, sheet metal or other suitable material and is secured to the front Wall and sidewalls 8, I0 and I2 in any desirable manner either hingedly or surface of the shelf is preferably smoothly iinished and serves as a reflector for the lamp. An additional storage space 34 is provided below the desk 28 and rubbers and galoshes or additional books may be stored therein. This storage space is open at one side and is preferably provided with a number of Ventilating the normally hard iinished building wall. The

cubicles can be located flush againsta'wall due` to the hinge connections 22 1and-126 .con-tained within the cubicle walls. The `front and sidewalls of the cubicle are of substantially chest to shoulder height so that when an occupant 38 sits on a 'chairi is Abelow'the topof the wall. As Vmostynoise will emanate from within the cubicles ewhich are inA line 'with one another, very little soundwill come from the-side'towardithe centercf the room. Thus-there is normallyno door needed and the cubicle is left lpartially open ,on one side. By having oneqside -partially open, and by having the top open, good'yentilation is assured, the construction is. less expensive, and there is no tendency towardclaustrophobia on of the occupant.

Rather'tha-n arranging the cubicles in a single line along one wall ofA the library Y'or study room it may inimanyinstances `be desirable to arrange the cubicles in Aa pair of lines invad- Vjoining .relation `as shown in Fig. 2. In this case, the extending sidewalls'cf'adjoining' cubicles lie in contact. fSpecicallmas shown in Fig. 2, the extending sidewalls of lthe left row are hingedly connectedto the sidewalls I2 While those on the right row are hingedly vconnected to the left sidewalls; i0.

The library cubicle herein vdisclosed provides a private place to studywhichefiectively excludes noise. tained requiring no additional desk or lamp land is readily portable yso that it maybe Vmoved from one room or building y.to'another to move with peak study loads. There are no problems fofventilation with this gcubiclevand tha-cubicle 1 48 within'thecubicle, hisfhead the part The cubicle yis substantially self-coni -jecting rearwardly from said front same heightas said is sufficiently open that the occupant does not feel conned.

Although a particular form of my invention has been shown for illustrative purposes, it is to be understood that my invention is not to be limited thereby but only by the spirit and scope of the following claim.

I claim:

Afportable :study enclosure including a cubicle defining a study area, and comprising a front wall, a pair of side walls connected to and prowall and each ofysaid-side walls being of substantially the same horizontal extent and of substantially the front wall, a desk approximating the-.horizon al extent of said side Walls and 'secured thereto and to said front wall for rigidifying the structure and disposed substantially midway between the tops and bottoms of said ',:walls to accommodate V.a seated .occupant 4and l whereby `the above and below the same are .enclosed bythe lsaid walls, an extension jwall of substantially `the samerhei-ghtas saidside and front walls, and cooperating-fastenermeanson an edge of said extension wall and on the vfree ledges of said side -yvalls -to selecti ely Ymount the extension wall to either side..wal1 permittingrightor lefthand installation thereof4 and with the free edge of said extension wall adapted. to V.abut the front Wall ofthe-next adjacent cubicle,fthereby afkicrding a sideand backgenclosure for the seated occupant. v

N. lzvlLDlElRMAN.

Referencesited `in theffile of' this patent UNITED 'STATES ATENTS Number Name Date 1,308,702 Fellheimer July 1, 1919 1,948,703 Fanarjian Feb.` 27, 1934 1,978,512 Stone Oct.30, 1934 1,983,559 Noll Dec. 11, 1934 1,997,585 Hunter Apn 16, 1935 2,003,482 'Fancher June 4, 1935 2,034,261 MacDonald Mar. 17, 1936 2,141,117 Weiss Dec. 20, 1938 2,397,609 Leadbetter Apr. 2, 1946 2,438,891 Beardsley Apr. 6, 1948 

